51–60 of 69 posts
The Silicon Valley culture was aimed at attracting younger talent away from established companies, with childish perks like free food and video games, and a less rigid work structure. But it was never going be sustainable. At the core, the ‘promise’ that these new tech companies alluded to one day had to actually appear. And the slow creep of government regulation was always going to catch up too. I always assumed mo…
As long as tech companies remain fantastically profitable the culture will not change. I see this as just a sour grapes piece from a journalist who has to cover tech from outside the bubble.
> As long as tech companies remain fantastically profitable the culture will not change. I think it’s slowly changing. Maybe not getting “boring” and stodgy but changing. The culture from fb and goog in 2005 of crazy perks like food is probably going away. It’s probably be replaced with new things, like WFH and super funded 401ks and cushy healthcare. It’s a sign of an aging workforce and a changing WFH first culture…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are we assuming it would go to salaries? Do budget surpluses normally result in bonuses for rank-and-file employees? Aren't you still capable of eating something that isn't free? This line of reasoning makes any workplace perk into an act of infantilisation: 401(k) matching? You mean you let them remove that much agency from your investment planning? Healthcare? I would prefer to be a big girl and buy my healthca…
> Why are we assuming it would go to salaries? Because companies generally budget for total compensation and then divide between salary and perks, and because employees generally compare offers using total compensation rather than just salary. > This line of reasoning makes any workplace perk into an act of infantilisation Of course it can, but it exists on a spectrum. Things like 401(k) matching and healthcare and t…
I don't buy it, they've still made the decision of where you're getting your food for you. The only way to escape infantilisation is to never be an employee. Why would you let mommy and daddy tell you what projects you're allowed to work on?
> And as petty a thing as, “We’re going to give you smaller to-go boxes so you can’t take the steak we’re giving you and go feed your family with it.” That's what she thinks is petty? I wonder if she feels the same about replacing snack bars and drink fridges with free vending machines to slow down the workers who fill their backpacks full of Odwalla, Monster, and expensive snacks every night. These benefits were wor…
I can't remember how long ago it was.. before Google and Facebook started pushing crazy benefits Microsoft was kind of famous for it. MS's level of it back in the day was much lower than today, but still generous for the time. At some point they had to stop as they had caught employees emptying the free drink fridges and taking them off campus and reselling them. So they had to stop offering that stuff. Though I'm su…
Some of the criticism doesn't make sense: Providing food, amenities, even accommodation has been a method with which private and state organizations around the world used to cut their costs and better the life standards of their members since the dawn of the modern economy after the industrial revolution. Especially for organizations that have thousands of employees in one location, providing a cafeteria can be much…
This used to be handled by having a non-free cafeteria. The cafeteria will still be cheaper for employees than going out to restaurants, and it will be cheaper than the company picking up the tab for everyone. It used to be common to make a lunch and bring it to work too. This recent stuff that tech workers are entitled to a free meal at work or to go spend an hour+ to go to a restaurant for lunch every day is a very…
Well, if the food can be provided for cheap enough, it may make more sense to give it away free than to handle all the accounting hassle.
> This recent stuff that tech workers are entitled to a free meal at work or to go spend an hour+ to go to a restaurant for lunch every day is a very new thing.
Its not. It was a practice very widespread in most of the world's social democracies, especially in government organizations, in order to lift up the life standards of the members. Its still used in a lot of countries. The US has 'rediscovered' it through the tech companies. Just like its 'rediscovering' company-provided housing and all the other tangible benefits that the rest of the world still practices instead of leaving their employees to the mercy of the market.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As long as tech companies remain fantastically profitable the culture will not change. I think it’s slowly changing. Maybe not getting “boring” and stodgy but changing. The culture from fb and goog in 2005 of crazy perks like food is probably going away. It’s probably be replaced with new things, like WFH and super funded 401ks and cushy healthcare. It’s a sign of an aging workforce and a changing WFH first culture…
To add to original poster's point - even with changing perks, wouldn't they always look different (better) than traditional industries like journalism? Even your examples would indicate to that.
Tech has always held a captive journalistic audience either in boom times as a North Star to the future, a scapegoat, or a villain. I don’t know how real people feel about tech tbh, but I imagine it’s now closer to how they feel about wall street than it’s ever been.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why are we assuming it would go to salaries? Because companies generally budget for total compensation and then divide between salary and perks, and because employees generally compare offers using total compensation rather than just salary. > This line of reasoning makes any workplace perk into an act of infantilisation Of course it can, but it exists on a spectrum. Things like 401(k) matching and healthcare and t…
>it's not infantilizing because you still pay for lunch I don't buy it, they've still made the decision of where you're getting your food for you. The only way to escape infantilisation is to never be an employee. Why would you let mommy and daddy tell you what projects you're allowed to work on?
And no, there's nothing inherently infantile about being employed, because you're freely entering into a work contract. But what is adult and mature is exchanging your professional work for money. What isn't adult and mature is your company starting to provide things that aren't related to work or the workplace at all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conveniently dropped the ‘free’ I see. Whenever I interviewed with companies and they mentioned free meals or fridges full of sodas as a perk, that was a red flag. Companies like IBM and Microsoft had on-site cafeterias and coffee shops usually with subsidized pricing and it never came up in in interviews.
Having worked at a place with subsidized cafeteria onsite, oh boy was the food shitty. The old school businesses I worked at had this really strange view of cafeterias, like they expected their employees to hear the whistle blow and everyone take their tin lunchbox to the lunch room.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This used to be handled by having a non-free cafeteria. The cafeteria will still be cheaper for employees than going out to restaurants, and it will be cheaper than the company picking up the tab for everyone. It used to be common to make a lunch and bring it to work too. This recent stuff that tech workers are entitled to a free meal at work or to go spend an hour+ to go to a restaurant for lunch every day is a very…
> This used to be handled by having a non-free cafeteria. Well, if the food can be provided for cheap enough, it may make more sense to give it away free than to handle all the accounting hassle. > This recent stuff that tech workers are entitled to a free meal at work or to go spend an hour+ to go to a restaurant for lunch every day is a very new thing. Its not. It was a practice very widespread in most of the world…
It's only spoken of in the media positively in the context of newer tech companies.
My first programming job was at a defense contractor no doubt considered "stodgy" by the cool kids. Their newest office building was environmentally friendly (~70% naturally lit), and its cafeteria complex was large, well-managed and had both innovative and healthy options (e.g. a pay-by-the-ounce salad bar).
This was in 1983.